Mark of Failure
by eternalglitch
Summary: Hater arrives too late to save Sylvia from Dominator, and everyone else is left to pick up the pieces of what's left behind. Short one-shot. Takes place in Season Two finale.


She had meant the galaxy to him.

And now she was gone.

Wander couldn't move, couldn't breathe; the ice encasing his body seemed to have crept into his very heart, freezing it in a way that he hadn't ever felt before.

He had been wrong. About everything. This was all his fault.

All because he had wanted to help his greatest enemy yet.

It never hurts to help… right?

Wander knew that this was what Dominator was waiting for, was hoping for, but he couldn't help it. He cried. Loudly. His sobs wracked his small frame, shaking from the stunned shock and the hurt _unfairness_ of it all because Sylvia had just been trying to _help._ She had told him she had been worried. She was here, in this galaxy, because he had convinced her to come help save it. She could have been home with her family right about now, singing and rough housing… but she wasn't.

Sylvia was nowhere.

Dominator said something, her words crackling with a barely restrained glee, but Wander wasn't listening, couldn't listen, his own thoughts screaming at him and spinning him around and around until he couldn't do anything but cry and scream until his throat was raw.

His fault. His fault. His fault.

Sylvia had gotten him out of so many dangerous situations he had started taking her friendship for granted. Now she was gone, killed, and it was all because Wander couldn't listen to her.

Sometimes an enemy really is just an enemy.

There was an explosion somewhere, shouting and screaming echoing around the ship. Wander pressed his hands on either side of his head, blocking out the noise, curling up on himself, too broken to realize the ice had melted. The ship shook; Wander shook harder, gasping for breath as he tried in vain to stop hyperventilating.

He was going to be sick.

Suddenly, a hole was blasted into the ship's hull, a tall figure standing there, green lighting crackling over his fingers. Hater stepped into the ship, eyes glowing, as he surveyed the situation and turned to say something to the people behind him.

Wander didn't listen. It didn't matter who had come, Sylvia wasn't here… would never be here. Wander had failed.

Hater stomped across the ship, laughing and waving his hands as he faced off against Dominator, who was pinned to the wall like a fly on the wall. It was only when Dominator turned and stared down at Wander, eyes a piercing red and green, when Wander realized.

Hater had come for him.

The skeleton reached down towards him, and Wander felt his vision start to go black. His last sensation was of being picked up, his tears still trickling down his face as he desperately held onto his old enemy.

He had been right about one thing at least… Hater had cared after all.

* * *

"Sir, I don't understand," Peepers said later that night, the two staring out over the galaxy as the other watchdogs started repairs on the ship. "Why did you bring Wander with us? There was no tactical advantage to going onto Dominator's ship! It was going to blow anyways!"

Lord Hater was staring down at his flag, stabbed into the ground on the half-destroyed planet. He had arrived just as the drill was piercing the surface of the last planet. Not too late to fire a warning shot and distract Dominator enough for her to pause in her destruction… but long enough for the Zbornak to have been annihilated. "Because," he growled, clenching his fists. "I had decided to save this galaxy before I conquered it. The Zbornak _counted_. That is a mark of failure, Peepers." Hater turned, looking over the galaxy as flora started to sprout over the various planets. "Besides," he added quietly. "I couldn't have allowed my nemesis to be killed by something other than myself. Just like I did with this galaxy, I will save him. And when he is back to his annoying, perky and persistent self _then_ I will kill him."

Peepers turned, glancing up at Hater, as the skeleton turned away to go check on their temporary guest. Hater halted, looking back at Peepers for a moment as an expression of doubt flickered across his face. "I mean… he will go back to normal… right, Peepers?"

Peepers hesitated, knowing what Hater wanted him to say but not knowing how to say the truth. "I don't know, sir." Peepers responded, his eyelid lowering as the Watchdog gave his version of a frown. "I simply don't know. Only time will tell."

Peepers also moved to go wander over to the remains of the ship. Someone had to help Hater look after their new addition after all.

And as the new day started in the galaxy, the cracked remains and broken planets slowly starting to begin anew, it was known throughout the galaxy that a terrible enemy had been destroyed that day… but she had taken with her an irreplaceable sacrifice.


End file.
